Shawn Horcoff’s goal and assist, both during power-play time, and Mathieu Garon’s superb goaltending led the Oilers to a 3-2 shootout victory over the Rangers last Saturday night at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta. It was their first appearance there in over six years. Sam Gagner notched the only goal in the shootout (his fourth such game-winner) to earn the extra point for the home team and it was the Oilers NHL-leading 11th win in that fashion.

For the Rangers, it was their third straight loss and ended a disappointing western Canada road trip 0-2-1; they are winless versus the Western Conference this season. Once again, the Blueshirts outshot their opponents and had the edge in play, but were unable to get enough offense going. Whether they keep running into a hot goaltender or are just unable to finish off their plays, this recurring theme throughout the first half of the season has not put them in good stead. They are in a dogfight for a playoff spot and will continue to be desperate for every point for the reminder of the season unless they put together a serious winning streak and separate themselves from most of the Eastern Conference contenders.

After a scoreless first period in which Garon made some great saves to keep the Oilers from falling behind, Jarrett Stoll beat Henrik Lundqvist at the 11 minute mark of the second with a power-play goal that deflected off Chris Drury from long range. The puck floated high and awkwardly and somehow found the back of the net. The stunned and frustrated Lundqvist made an appropriate gesture; it was another tough break for the Blueshirts. Even though they had outshot Edmonton 11-5 in the period, they trailed 1-0.

The Rangers finally broke through at 8:07 of the final period when Dan Girardi fired a high shot from the blue line that beat Garon; the unassisted tally snapped a scoring drought that extended over 108 minutes. But Horcoff restored the Oilers advantage with a five-on-three power-play goal at 11:29; Ales Hemsky found Horcoff open right in front of a helpless Lundqvist and he easily knocked in his 17th of the season. The Rangers were put in such a difficult situation because Ryan Hollweg was called for a five-minute major for checking from behind; it was a very poor move on Hollweg’s part. Soon after, Martin Straka was penalized for holding and the Blueshirts were two men down.

With time winding down, the Rangers were all but dead when Drury made a clutch play with just six seconds remaining in regulation. With Lundqvist off for an extra skater, a furious scramble in front of Garon ensued. Jaromir Jagr located Drury alongside Garon and while on his knees, he knocked down the puck and shot it past the netminder for the tying goal. The Rangers had twice as many shots as the Oilers (10-5) for the period, but it didn’t matter.

In the overtime, both teams had power-play chances to no avail. In the shootout, Sean Avery failed and then Gagner scored in the first round. Scott Gomez and Ales Hemsky were unsuccessful in the second and when Jagr once again failed in his third round attempt, the game was over. Brendan Shanahan was noticeably absent from the shootout due to a knee injury suffered in a third period collision with Dustin Penner.

Both Garon (29 saves) and Lundqvist (23 saves) were admirable, but give the edge to Garon, who was perfect in the shootout. The Rangers begin a three-game home stand on Tuesday night when the Tampa Bay Lightning pay a visit.